OUR PARISH PATRON
Our parish is dedicated to St. Clement of Rome, not to be confused with Clement of Alexandria. Clement was believed to be the fourth pope, the first after the apostles. Clement has had a long association with Dundee, dating back as far as the 13th Century, when there was an early parish church dedicated to him. He was also adopted as the town's titular patron saint. The following is taken from a recent brief history of Dundee, "Dundee: A Short History" by Norman Watson:
"The presence of an early church dedicated to St. Clement and his adoption as the town's titular saint is significant. Clement of Rome was Pope until 100AD when the emperor Trajan cast him into the sea tied to a stone anchor. Naturally, the Vikings had their own "ties" to the sea and from the reign of King Alfred (871-95) Clement was medieval Denmark's most important saint. A wooden church was built in Aarhus in 1102 to contain Clement's relics and the cathedral bearing his name was begun shortly afterwards in the Danish town. Researchers are still trying to determine to what extent the cult of St. Clement had influence in Scotland...we can only speculate on the influence of visiting Scandinavians on early Dundee and whether the founding of a church dedicated to Clement at the very heart of the old town is a sign of Viking presence."
The following link gives an in-depth biography/history of Clement